weekly roundup 08/06/25, Hill & Dale – Loughshannagh, CS Lewis 5 mile, EYOF Gala – Germany, Mourne Way Marathon Events, NI& Ulster U14 – U19 AG Championships, Nowhere to Run to 5k, Cairncastle Classic
Some of North Down AC’s mountain runners were back in the Mournes on Thursday night for the 8th race of the 10 race Hill & Dale series. Loughshannagh is the longest race of the series and definitely one of the hardest but most scenic.
Runners began at Ott, then Loughshannagh, Doan and finally the brutal climb up and over Carn to finish.
For the NDAC crew Jeremy Tomalin was first home in 1:05:20. Clair Quigley was the next finisher in 1:07:55 taking 1st place in the F45 age category. Kevin Mulligan was the next of the club’s finishers. in 1:12:11 followed by F65 winner June McMinn in 1:14:54. Glynis Boyle stormed to a 1:17:53 finish ahead of M80 winner, John Adgey 1:22:40 and Trevor Patterson 1:23:47.
CS Lewis 5 Mile Race, 07/06/25
There was a superb turnout of speedy North Down Ac runners at the annual CS Lewis 5 mile race in East Belfast. Starting and finishing by Aslan’s statue in CS Lewis Square runners also took in the flat, fast paths and trails in Victoria Park.
Aaron Beggs was the club’s first finisher in 13th place in 29:06 1 place ahead of Aaron McAuley 29:13. Thomas Steele was 17th in 29:42 followed by David Massey 30:31, Chris Downey 30:58 and F40 winner and 5th female, Fiona McQuillan 32:30. Steven Boyd continued his excellent form finishing in 33:34 follows by Sarah Gibson 34:06 and Jacob Sullivan 34:17. Luke Hamilton ran his first race of the weekend in 34:40 finishing ahead of Andrew Muir 36:20, Matt Ormesher 36:31, Olivia Cumming 36:35 and Heather Beattie 36:56. Sarah Wilson 37:31, Claire Scott 38:17, Emma Fox 38:33, Wendy Neely 38:36 and Paula Simpson 39:47 all ran strongly with Jonathan McWhinney 40:36 and Michael Cunningham 40:50 close behind them. Beth Mulree’s 41:22 was an incredible 9:15 course PB! Emma Hegarty 41:53, Gillian Beggs 42:57, Julie Preston 43:22, Klara Anderson 45:39 and Valerie Blayney 46:12 were followed by Cara Jeffrey 46:22 and Sophie Hamilton 46:56 who were both warming up for their race in the Mournes the following day. Jill Eager 47:33, Sinead Agnew 48:13 and Nicole Bell 49:42 were the next NDAC finishers with George Emerson 51:37, Jennifer Brook 51:43, Helen Beattie 52:17 and Ivor Dempster 56:44 completing the line up.
EYOF Gala, Wetzlar 08/06/25
North Down AC’s Cameron McCracken was racing in Wetzlar, Germany on Sunday as part of the Irish team at the European Youth Olympic Festival Gala. Cameron qualified for the 110m Hurdles finals racing 14.24 in his heat and finished 7th in the final in 14.51.
Cameron McCracken (6th from left, back row)
Mourne Way Marathon, 07/06/25
North Down AC were well represented at the Mourne Way Marathon events on a wet summer Saturday in the hills. All the events finished in Kilbroney Park in Rostrevor.
Clair Quigley was the club’s sole representative in the marathon between Donard Park and Kilbroney, completing the challenging course in 4:56;16.
Alan Massey 2:08:55, Luke Hamilton 2:34:05, Ian McCreary 2:59:10, Sophie Hamilton and Cara Jeffrey both 3:03:33 ran the half marathon between Spelga Dam and Rostrevor while Stephanie Graham Tok on the 10k, finishing 2nd lady in 45:19.
NI & Ulster U14 – U19 Age Group Track & Field Championships 08/06/25
NDAC’s junior athletes put in some more excellent performance at Day 1 of the NI & Ulster Track and Field Age Group Championships at the Antrim Forum on Sunday. Day 2 of the Championships will be held next Sunday at the Mary Peters Track.
NI & Ulster Age Group Championships (Day 1)
The first day of the NI & Ulster Age Groups took place at the newly refurbished Antrim Forum track on Sunday 8th June and there was a considerable medal haul for the junior athletes who represented NDAC.
Poppy Earl continued her excellent early season hurdling form by adding the U14 Girls 75mH gold medal to her growing list of titles in a time of 12.40s. Having only recently joined the club following his Ulster Schools victory, Zac Fox added the U15 Boys long jump title to his Ulster & Irish Schools titles with an impressive gold medal jump of 5.45m, which was almost a full metre ahead of second place. Emma Reid was another to continue her impressive winning streak from the Ulster & Irish Schools as she increased her PB to take gold in the U16 shot (3kg) with a best effort of 10.71m. Roger McMullan has been consistently jumping over 6m all season so it was no surprise when he took gold in the U18 long jump with a leap of 6.08m. Multi-eventer, Anna Moran, may have been the only competitor in the U18 javelin (500g) but still managed to produce a decent throw of 31.01m, in some tricky conditions, to win the title and finished 4th in the long jump with 4.60m. The gold medal rush was completed by the quartet of Erin Coard, Charlotte Allen, Devon Booth & Eva Patton who produced some smooth changeovers in the U16 Girls 4x100m relay as they led from start to finish, taking victory in 53.08s.
Eva Patton claimed silver in the U16 100mH in a time of 12.95s (-0.2w). Maisie Rainer also won silver in the U17 long jump with a best effort of 4.72m, while Harry Jackson added a third silver in the combined U19/20 long jump with a leap of 5.58m.
Erin Coard won bronze in the U16 Girls shot (3kg) with a throw of 7.99m and Ben Kirk, who hasn’t been able to train for several weeks due to injury, returned to the track to claim bronze in the U18 200m in a time of 24.68s (-0.8w)
Sophie Rankin missed out a medal by less than one second in the U14 800m as she finished 4th in a time of 2:28.25. Caoimhe Fenlon also narrowly missed a medal in all three of her events as she finished 4th in the U16 100mH in a time of 13.75s (-0.2w) (13.26s in the heats), 4th in the high jump with 1.35m & 5th in the long jump with 4.60m, while Isla Wiltshire finished 4th in the U16 shot with best effort of 6.13m and Isaac Hammond finished 4th in the U18 shot with first round throw of 11.09m.
Other results:
U14
Eva Dickson finished 8th in the 80m in 12.11s (-0.7w) (12.00s in the heats), 7th in the 200m in 30.99s (30.28s in the heats) & 10th in the long jump with 3.71m
Jean Robinson finished 2nd in her 200m heat with 30.93s (-1.2w)
Emily Stewart was 6th in her heat of the 200m in 32.14s (-0.6w)
Eve Sloan finished 17th in the 800m with a new PB of 2:45.20
Isaac Hall finished 10th in the 800m in a time of 2:32.08
U15
Caitlyn Dickson finished 15th in the 800m in a time of 2:38.01
Seb Mair finished 12th in the 800m in a time of 2:26.94
U16
Eva Patton finished 6th in the 100m with a time of 13.73s (13.52 in the heats)
Devon Booth finished 6th in the 200m in a time of 28.95s
Isla Wiltshire finished 8th in the 800m with 2:2.86
Maia Johnston finished 10th in the 800m with 2:41.33
Andrew Muir was among the runners at the Nowhere to Run To 5k in support of Ards & North Down Women’s Aid and the Men’s Advisory Project, supporting victims and survivors of domestic abuse at Ward Park on Sunday.
Andrew Muir and Mayor Cllr Gillian McCollum
Cairncastle Classic, 07/06/25
In a busy week for the club’s mountain runners the latest NI Mountain Running Association race was held at Cairncastle, above Larne on Saturday. 3 North Down AC members raced over the 10 mile course with David McKeague 1:25:55 the first to finish in 11th place,. Gareth Hardy 1:32:46 was 19th and Trevor Patterson completed his second mountain race in 3 days finishing 89th in 2:32:49.
